Coal, firewood prices go up as demand soars

Nashik: With govt putting restrictions on the commercial LPG cylinders, the demand for coal and wood for the purpose of cooking has gone up and this demand also has led to spike in the prices of the commodity.Restaurants, hotels, banquets and those who have marriage celebrations are getting in touch with the coal and timber depots to place their orders so that they are able to tide over the issue of shortage of the cylinders.Manish Kasat, manager of one of the seven coal depots in the city, said the demand has jumped up ever since the war in Gulf region started and directly impacted the LPG supplies in India."The rate of wooden coal that was around Rs30 per kg, but has jumped to more than Rs 35 per kg. We are unable to predict the rates for the next day," Kasat said.